My Heart Is For This HouseSample

DAY FIVE:

Generous people are: OPPORTUNISTIC 

SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 22:9 NKJV 

“He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.” 

Jesus was constantly trying to get others to see what He saw. 

People saw fishermen; Jesus saw future preachers. 

People saw a crowd of hungry people; Jesus saw a feast. 

People saw a blind man; Jesus saw an opportunity for healing. 

We usually hear about a generous heart or a generous life, but this verse mentions a “generous eye.” It’s another way of saying we can look for opportunities to be a blessing. People that are generous look at life a bit differently than others.  Pastor Brian Houston has said, “generosity is not a single act, it is a way of seeing and a way of thinking.”

I read a story about a pastor who was sitting next to a stranger on an airplane and struck up a conversation. The pastor asked the man what he did for a living and the man replied, with a smile on his face, “I’m a mortician.” The pastor was thinking to himself, “that must be the worst job in the entire world. Working in a funeral home, dealing with dead people… I would never want to do that.” The pastor said to the mortician, “that must be a tough gig?” The mortician replied, “Actually, it’s the best job in the world. It’s an opportunity to be there for families on their most difficult days.” What one person saw as awful, another saw as an opportunity. So much of life comes down to how you see things. 

A theologian by the name of Leonard Ravenhill said, “The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity."  I’ll be honest, my greatest fear in life is reaching a point where I look back on my life and have to ask myself the question, “What could God have done?” This question haunts me. I don’t ever want to think I missed an opportunity to see God move, an opportunity to change another person’s life or to see breakthrough in my family. 

Heart for the House is an opportunity for a miracle in your life and the life of our church. Let’s not miss it, because we didn’t see it and seize it! 

Are you looking for ways to serve people in your church, your family, and your workplace?

Do you actively try and create opportunities to be a blessing? 

Let’s be opportunistic and generous people.